Hard bolt Lift

Steps for making brass see if I'm missing something.
1 run it through neck sizing die with .330 bushing than do it a second time for .308 to get it down to .280 ID
2 trim case to length
3turn neck with neck turning and 23 degree bit up to the shoulder
4 load shoot and all is fine till second reloading that's when bolt lift is tight and accuracy is still good.
Going to start reaming ID of case neck to make sure there isnt a doughnut issue.
 
Steps for making brass see if I'm missing something.
1 run it through neck sizing die with .330 bushing than do it a second time for .308 to get it down to .280 ID
2 trim case to length
3turn neck with neck turning and 23 degree bit up to the shoulder
4 load shoot and all is fine till second reloading that's when bolt lift is tight and accuracy is still good.
Going to start reaming ID of case neck to make sure there isnt a doughnut issue.
I think you need a fired shoulder measurement and a sized shoulder measurement. I know you said it moves but without exact data it may not be enough. It could be neck. It could also be a lip on the neck after trimming if you don't chamfer the edge.
 
Already ordered a new die for full length sizing but still be 7 mag x 338 case its going to miss a little shoulder to neck junction .
 
You said "...but when put in rifle and bolt close it shines the head of the case just like shinny circle where the bolt is swiping and the brass in not loose in chamber..."

Can you clarify that Marty?
Exactly where is that spot on the case? Where does the bolt "swipe". Sorry. I don't understand...
Rob-
 
You said "...but when put in rifle and bolt close it shines the head of the case just like shinny circle where the bolt is swiping and the brass in not loose in chamber..."

Can you clarify that Marty?
Exactly where is that spot on the case? Where does the bolt "swipe". Sorry. I don't understand...
Rob-
just about in the center between primer pocket and outside edge of the case rim.
Where the letter stamping on the case is.
 
OP

That brass is now fire-formed to your chamber, is whats happened. In my rifles, I've found it takes 3-4 firings for that to actually happen. After it does, you need to verify exactly where on that case it's become too tight for you to chamber anymore ... I say that because sometimes it isn't just shoulder bump that's needed to make them chamber reliably again.

Your 7/338 is an oddball chambering, likely with no set standard for dies like plain .308's for example have had for multiple lifetimes already. [ If ] you've checked the shoulder (the way many, many guys have suggested) and that still isn't where your problem is, use a good caliper and measure how much those cases are swelling on their diameters instead of how far they've stretched lengthwise the way everyone else has been hounding you to do. Big, fat, overbore cases like this one often don't get sized down along their length properly and there can be a portion ahead of the case-head that swells as the brass is thinned in that spot, thru repeated firings and re-sizings. Without very-good, dimensionally tight dies guys end up pulling their hair out just like you, frustrated with chambering problems. Belted mags for example, need body dies to deal with that problem because they headspace off their belts, but straight cases with no belt will do it too over time as well, because of case thinning and wall expansion.

I have brass that does exactly this around the 5th firing through my rifles, and I use a special full length die without a shoulder or neck on its top, (acting as a sort of body die like the belted guys have to use) I run the brass at that point through that special tight die to get by the problem and score a few more loadings before the brass is too-thin, and toast. It's a sign in itself that your brass is nearing the end, and often shows before primer pockets start to go. So keep that in mind too.

My bet for you, (IF the shoulder bump already suggested 15 times prior to my post hasn't cured your problem), is that your sizer is probably cut to a sloppy spec, and likely isn't sizing down the length of your brass tight-enough, far enough towards the case head. Good chance there is swelling starting a short ways up from the bottom, like I say. And is probably the root of your grief.
 
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@rooster721 I think it's right. I'm not sure what you have for dies but it sounds like you don't have a set of dies for your specific cartridge. You might think about sending a few of these fully formed pieces of brass to the Hornady custom shop and get a set of dies made.
 
@rooster721 I think it's right. I'm not sure what you have for dies but it sounds like you don't have a set of dies for your specific cartridge. You might think about sending a few of these fully formed pieces of brass to the Hornady custom shop and get a set of dies made.

If it's me & not the OP you're referring to about dies, I was a step ahead of you 10-12 years ago. I sent cases to Whidden myself, and use those now.

RCBS was making a die for my chambering way back in the stone age, but their sizer was over working the brass at the neck, and to compound that problem the only brass available at the time was formed far too thick. I was overpresssuring at those stiff, thick necks, plus suffering all the accuracy and consistency problems that arose through it ... then too, as brass was fired many multiples of times, I ran into case stretch, case thinning, and hard chambering. Just as I explained in my earlier post. Just like the OP seems to be getting around to finding out himself.

I personally turn necks now, anneal on each firing, and I size through my custom whidden's with bushings to get consistent seats and neck tensions. That tight RCBS sizer from the stone age I mentioned was since modified not-to do anything at all to the shoulder area or to the necks anymore, but instead only use around the 5th firing so it sizes the brass back down ahead of the case head (where I've explained they ALL eventually stretch, thin & then bulge at). That die now acts like a body-specific die only, and chambering is honky dory. By the 7th firing, primer pockets are loose and that case-head, lower end of the brass is thinned to where a bent paper clip will faintly hook it inside the case, so it all gets retired ... I would bet very large sums of money that every shooter shooting overbore cases in any caliber, (especially the wildcatted ones needing fire-forming and brass work in the first place to shoot their cartridge at all) will vouch for these same things. Some figure it out, some don't. But those are 100% the roots of the problem when these things arise.

I'm sure alot of readers will appreciate these pointers if they've become stumped at their own loading bench. Alot of this is overlooked by the majority of loaders and shooters out there.
 
It appears to be a little better but still appears that the ejector is sticking on the brass.
Might just get ahold of Hornady and have custom dies made or just have Allen mag made out of it
 
@rooster721 I think it's right. I'm not sure what you have for dies but it sounds like you don't have a set of dies for your specific cartridge. You might think about sending a few of these fully formed pieces of brass to the Hornady custom shop and get a set of dies made.
Or Whidden...... 3fired cases from your chamber, and they'll make ya a die.....
 
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